Think the friction between red states and blue states is rough? Try checking out the culture wars over "proper English." Linguist and master observer of American culture, John McWhorter parses our shape-shifting language in this talk coinciding with the release of his new book Words on the Move---and
explores why some of the tensions over Lingua Americana may be central
to our identities and views about culture and race in America.

Before & After: Try our cocktails of the night, the "Old-fashioned Grammarian" and the "YAAASSSSS!"; take our language quiz for a chance to win pithy prizes; sway to wordplay-inspired tunes; stick around for the Q&A; and snag a signed copy of John McWhorter's latest book.

John McWhorter is a linguist and professor at Columbia University. He writes for Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Root, Politico, The New Republic, and The Atlantic, and he is a frequent guest on NPR, CNN, and MSNBC. His popular and critically acclaimed books include The Power of Babel, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, What Language Is, and most recently, Words on the Move: Why English Won't---and Can't---Sit Still (Like, Literally).

Get $15 tickets for John McWhorterherewith code SECRET15
and enter the code at checkout. You can also use the code at the
Symphony Space box office (call 212.864.5400 or visit in person).

Join evolutionary biologist and best-selling author Richard Dawkins to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Selfish Gene. In this classic work, Richard Dawkins gives a gene's-eye view of evolution that is imaginative, powerful, and stylistically brilliant.

Are
our bodies merely vehicles for ensuring the immortality of our genes?
How can selfish genes support kindness and altruism? Why does our
understanding of the evolution of life matter? As our
knowledge of the genome grows by leaps and bounds in the 21st century,
Richard Dawkins continues to change and challenge our view of Earth's
life-forms and our own human experience.

Before & After: Visit our Mixology Lab, and sample a "Gene Fizz";
sway to natural selections and (r)evolutionary sounds; snag a signed
copy of the special anniversary edition of Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene; and don't miss the Q&A!

Richard Dawkins
is emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of
Oxford's inaugural Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public
Understanding of Science (1995-2008). He is a fellow of the Royal
Society and best-selling author of such acclaimed works as The
Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, The God
Delusion, Unweaving the Rainbow, The Ancestor's Tale, The Greatest Show
on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, The Magic of Reality, An Appetite
for Wonder, and Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science.

Get $15 tickets for Richard Dawkinsherewith code SECRET15
and enter the code at checkout. You can also use the code at the
Symphony Space box office (call 212.864.5400 or visit in person).

Secret Science Club North meets @ Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway @ 95th St in Manhattan. Subway: 1, 2, or 3 to 96th Street. Doors for both events open at 7:30pm.

For more information about the Secret Science Club, contact secretscienceclub@gmail.com

The Secret Science Club is curated by Dorian Devins, Margaret Mittelbach, and Michael Crewdson. Dorian Devins is an NYC-based jazz singer and lyricist, and the former host of WFMU's “The Speakeasy.” Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson write about nature in the strangest of places; they are co-authors of Carnivorous Nights and Wild New York.